Tiger Lilies
by The Ice Blood Alchemist
Summary: The petals flutter to the ground and Ichigo sweeps them up and there's a bright orange flash and the petals fall to the floor, whole again, a flower. Rukia rolls her eyes. "Showoff."


Tiger Lilies

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. Only the AU belongs to me.**

 **A/N: Guess what guuuys :3 My new AU~**

* * *

Kurosaki Ichigo is much more in touch with nature than most of the other spirits. Yamamoto, the leader, who grows lilies-of-the-valley wherever his feet tread, opens his rarely open eyes and says, "Lilies-of-the-valley are poisonous. They do not look it, but they are. Do not be so quick to judge the boy by his looks."

Ichigo keeps two by his side at all times, a snow-white copy of himself, named Shiro, who is a Narcissus spirit, and Zangetsu, a towering middle-aged man with a constantly fluttering black cloak, a Black Hellebore spirit.

They are his family. They are his weapons. They are his safety.

His real family—humans, except for his father, a Daylily spirit—consists of two sisters. One, Yuzu, with warm caramel-colored hair just like Ichigo's deceased mother's and soft coffee-bean eyes, has a faint distinction with spirits, while the other, Karin, with the midnight locks of her father and the hard black orbs from no one but herself, has a strong connection with nature in itself.

How two sisters can be so different is beyond Ichigo.

Kurosaki Masaki is dead and gone. She died protecting Ichigo. That was when he stopped smiling.

Kuchiki Rukia, one of his best friends and a St. Helena Ebony spirit, stayed with him every day after that. She was the first to realize his detached expression.

Besides Shiro and Zangetsu, who know Ichigo better than they know themselves.

Uryu Ishida, another one of Ichigo's best friends despite the self-proclaimed "archenemy" thing, is a Quince spirit, sworn enemies of the Seirei no Kuria and Rukongai. Despite all this, Ishida has attained a form of respect amongst Seireins and even the rougher Rukons.

Inoue Orihime and Sado Yasutora (dubbed Chad by Ichigo) received their powers from Ichigo's immense Spiritual Energy. Orihime's pins are the Six Princess-Shielding Flowers, and she depends upon them as much as she does her friend Tatsuki. Chad's is the Brazo Derecha de Gigante, and he is meant to use it to protect as well as harm.

Ichigo has grown. He has lost what little childhood he so wanted just two years ago. He doesn't need it—want it—anymore.

He keeps a bundle of tiger lilies, tied with a brilliant orange ribbon, everywhere he frequents. Whenever he visits the Seirei no Kuria, spirit friends prepare tiger lilies for , when he was young, he used those oh-so innocent blooms to kill someone.

The man was a notorious murderer advancing upon Ichigo when the small boy stood and narrowed his eyes at him.

No one knows what happened next, not even Ichigo himself. All he remembers is snippets.

A knife, flashing towards him.

An amber streak leaving his hands.

Orange petals dotted with freckles falling from the sky.

A dead man.

Tiger lilies have held something for him ever since.

~€BLEACH€~

Rukia arranges the cluster of blossoms hopefully, clutching it to her chest. Beside her stands her adoptive older brother Kuchiki Byakuya, a Sakura spirit. His midnight eyes linger over the flowers in her pale hands before looking away.

He was not informed of the visitor's identity, but now it is plainly obvious.

When the boy arrives, everyone in the Seirei no Kuria bends on one knee, even the captains. Only two remain standing: Byakuya and his petite younger sister.

The boy spirit steps briskly towards them even as other spirits exchange shocked looks: How could the two Kuchiki even think to remain standing?

They hold their breath, clutching shihakushôs and gnashing teeth, as the spirit stops.

Rukia gently scatters the tiger lilies into the breeze, holding on to only one, which she places in the tanned, scarred hand.

Ichigo's fingers curl over the silky petals, the slender stem, the familiar blossom.

"Thank you, Rukia."


End file.
